Megan Follows is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Anne Shirley in films by Kevin Sullivan.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Megan was born on March 14, 1968, in Toronto, Ontario, to Ted Follows and Dawn Greenhalgh as their youngest child. She was raised there along with her older siblings - brother Laurence and sisters Edwina and Samantha. Megan's parents were part of the founding members of Canada's summer theatre culture and Megan began acting as a toddler with her siblings.
Start of career[]
Megan's first acting job came at the age of nine, when she landed a spot in a commercial for Bell Canada. She was directed to make an impudent gesture out of a school bus window - like sticking out her tongue - but ended up making a rather obscene and adult gesture instead.
After her parents' divorce at the age of 11, Megan moved to Los Angeles to attend school and act. She quickly found steady work in Canada, appearing in a few TV series such as Matt and Jenny, The Mating Season, The Baxters and The Littlest Hobo, in which she guest-starred with her entire family in a two-part episode. She also starred in the short film Boys and Girls, which won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject.
Anne of Green Gables[]
Megan's breakthrough occurred when she was cast as Anne Shirley in the 1985 film Anne of Green Gables directed by Kevin Sullivan. The part of Anne was a coveted role that she won over 3,000 other young girls when director chose her despite early worries during the audition process that she might be too old for the part.
- "It was not an easy character. She's iconic, so people think they know what she is, but she was multifaceted. She was not the appendage of a male character; she was number one. She had a lot of character defects that were fantastic to play. She had an uncontrollable temper; she was a compulsive talker; she had a rich fantasy life - all of which were products of the fact she was an orphan and raised in undesirable circumstances. And it is her intellect, her wit which turns that around and turns the community around. I think that is why that is why that story has had lasting power."
- —Megan about her film character, Anne Shirley.
After Anne[]
Follows starred as Catherine de Medici on Reign, a historical drama TV series based on the early life of Mary, Queen of Scots. She has also become a film director, most notably directing Amybeth McNulty in She Came Back, a thriller scheduled for release in 2024.
Filmography[]
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1978–1979 | A Gift to Last | |
1979–1980 | Matt and Jenny | Jenny Tanner |
1980 | Clare's Wish | |
The Mating Season | Laura McLain | |
1980–1981 | The Baxters | Lucy Baxter |
1981 | The Olden Days Coat | Sal |
1981–1982 | The Littlest Hobo | Marti Kendall / Rose |
1982 | Jen's Place | Jennifer |
The Facts of Life | Terry Largo | |
Hangin' In | Cassie | |
1983 | Boys and Girls | Margaret |
1984 | Sons and Daughters | Margaret |
The Domestic Life | Didi Crane | |
Hockey Night | Cathy Yarrow | |
1985 | Silver Bullet | Jane Coslaw |
Anne of Green Gables | Anne Shirley | |
1986 | Shattered If Your Kid's on Drugs | Kim Wilson |
Sin of Innocence | Jenny Colleran | |
Comedy Factory | Tina Jackson | |
1987 | American Playhouse | Anna Mae Morgan |
Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel | Anne Shirley | |
ABC Afterschool Specials | Dana Sherman | |
1988 | Inherit the Wind | Rachel Brown |
A Time of Destiny | Irene | |
1989 | Exposed | |
Champagne Charlie | Louise Heidsick | |
The Ray Bradbury Theatre | Aimee | |
Termini Station | Micheline Dushane | |
1990 | Deep Sleep | Shelley |
Back to Hannibal: The Return of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn | Becky | |
The Nutcracker Prince | Clara | |
1991 | The Chase | Gloria Whipple |
Cry in the Wind: The Taking of Peggy Ann | Peggy Ann Bradnick | |
1993 | Romeo & Juliet | Juliet |
The Hidden Room | Deanna Matthews | |
When Pigs Fly | Kathleen | |
1993–1994 | Second Changes | Kate Benedict |
1995 | The Outer Limits | Karen Ross |
Murder, She Wrote | Lila Nolan | |
1996 | Under the Piano | Rosetta Basilio |
1997 | Major Crime | Joanie Wells |
1998 | Reluctant Angel | Lisa/Cheryl |
1999 | Big Wolf on Campus | Violet Thorne |
2000 | Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story | Anne Blythe |
Law & Order | Megan Parnell | |
Made in Canada | Adele of Beaver Creek / Mandy Forward | |
The Fugitive | Paula Bennett | |
Family Law | Nancy Quinn | |
2001 | ER | Christy Larkin |
The X Files | Kath McCready | |
The Division | Science Teacher | |
Mentors | Annie Oakley | |
2002 | That's Life | Stella |
Someone Was Watching | Kate | |
The Stork Derby | Kate Harrington | |
Strong Medicine | Dana's Doctor | |
Live to Air | Narrator | |
2003 | A Forreign Afair | Lena |
Threat Matrix | Denise | |
2004 | CSI: Criminal Scene Investigation | Beth Darian |
Plainsong | Ella Guthrie | |
What Katy Did | Cousin Helen | |
Open Heart | Sherry Cardinal | |
Christmas Child | Meg Davenport | |
2005 | CSI: Miami | Chloe Grand |
Robson Arms | Janice Keneally | |
Shania: A Life in Eight Albums | Sharon Twain | |
Cold Case | Maura Mulvaney | |
2006 | Crossing Jordan | Beth |
Booky Makes Her Mark | Francie Thomson | |
The Great Polar Bear Adventure | Narrator/Cassie | |
2007 | Breakfast with Scot | Barbara Warren |
Royal Canadian Air Farce | ||
Booky & the Secret Santa | Francie Thomson | |
2008 | The Border | Moira Davis |
2009 | Booky's Crush | Francie Thomson |
Lie to Me | Lorraine Burch | |
Brothers & Sisters | Maggie Stephens | |
Raising the Bar | Reanne Chrisman | |
2009–2012 | Heartland | Lily Borden |
2010 | Pooka | Rosey |
2011 | I Am Number Four | Supermarket Cashier |
House M.D. | Jennifer Williams | |
2012 | Longmire | Alice Stewart |
Where Are the Dolls | Elizabeth | |
Hollywood Heights | Beth | |
World Without End | Maud | |
Flight of the Butterflies | Narrator | |
2013 | Bar None | Tess Lavoir |
2013–2017 | Reign | Catherine de Medici |
2014 | Hard Drive | Barbara |
Behind the scenes[]
- Her name is pronounced Mee-gan.
- Megan and her film character Anne Shirley both have birthdays in March.
- Her hair is naturally light brown, so a combination of wigs and hair colouring was used to portray Anne's red hair in Anne of Green Gables.
- In Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, four dresses were made for the scene when Anne falls into the mud but, Megan pulled off the stunt in one take.
- Megan burned her corset in a bonefire after finish filming The Sequel because she was so tired of wearing one.
- The reaction Anne has to seeing Green Gables in shambles in Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story is genuine. Megan had not seen the house since the previous movie, 12 years earlier, and the crew had to remind her that the house would look fine again.
- She was offered a stunt double in The Continuing Story for her fall in the sand, but Megan is recorded having said "Oh, no, I can do a prat-fall quite well on my own, thank you".
Gallery[]
Anne of Green Gables Wiki has 30 images of Megan Follows (view category). |
Videos[]
External links[]
See also[]
Actresses who portrayed Anne Shirley |
---|
Live-action actresses |
Mary Miles Minter · Anne Shirley · Carole Lorimer · Shirley Lorimer · Toby Tarnow · Mirielle Lachance · Kathy Willard Kim Braden · Megan Follows · Vinuri Ramanayake · Poorni Kamaladiwela · Elizabeth Toft · Barbara Hershey Hannah Endicott-Douglas · Mandy Harmon · Mary Kate Wiles · Isabella Jacqueline · Laura Eklund Nhaga Karen Cantiga · Ella Ballentine · Amybeth McNulty |
Voice actresses |
Jadwiga Andrzejewska · Cherry Cottrell · Anna Bučinská · Eiko Yamada · Monika Bezak · Anna Romantowska Barbara Barnes · Bryn McAuley · Mckenzie Sullivan · Mae Whitman · Marie Bierstedt · Rina Hidaka · Mary Kate Wiles |
Stage actresses |
Jamie Ray · Gracie Finley · Malorie-Ann Spiller · Susan Cuthbert · Thea MacNeil · Tracey Moore · Leisa Way Glynis Ranney · Tracy Michailidis · Samantha Winstanley · Sharmaine Ryan · Chilina Kennedy · Jennifer Toulmin Lisa Messina · Marla McLean · Amy Wallis · Melanie LeBlanc · Rebecca Parent · Allyson Pratt · Amy Reitsma Tess Benger · Katie Kerr · Ellen Denny · Jessica Gallant · Karen Slater · Holly Cinnamon · AJ Bridel |